Ivory Shadows
by PhantomWraith
Summary: White, pure and innocent. Black, tainted and unholy. Two opposing colors, sides, forces, ideals, whatever you want to call them. No matter what, it is impossible to achieve a perfect balance between the two. Grey, only a theoretical 'color' in my book...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

-=xXx=-

Ivory Shadows

-=xXx=-

Chapter One

Ducking into a dark alley and sliding down an open manhole leading into the sewers, the snow white haired boy quickly sealed the passage way and took off down the dark stone tunnel. This was the norm for one Uzumaki Naruto, the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. It was the tenth of October, five years since the Yondaime defeated the great beast; it was also the time of year that Naruto had to be on his guard the most.

Slitted silver eyes flicking back and forth in calculation and caution, Naruto picked his next turn carefully at a five-way intersection in the center of the village's sewer system. Freezing momentarily at the sound of rapid foot steps, Naruto grabbed the kunai that had previously been in his side and tossed it in the water before scrambling up the wall so he could pull himself up into the pipes along the ceiling.

Not even a second later, three chuunin sped down the tunnel, none of them noticing their prey. Waiting for a moment, Naruto silently made his way through the web of stone tunnels via the pipes. Only when he knew he was safe did Naruto finally realize something; the lone kunai that had hit him that night had been poisoned. With what kind, Naruto did not know, but he knew he couldn't go to the hospital nor the Sandaime. The person responisble for the poison probably works in a hospital or has connections in one, so it was definitely out of bounds. The Sandaime would only take him to a hospital, which Naruto was not going to risk.

Hissing in pain as the poison actually started to kick in, Naruto tore off his tattered grey shirt and looked at the wound, finding his unusually pale skin to be even more unnaturally pale with the veins around the injury being dark and blackish. Wave after wave of pain washed over his entire body as time passed. Everything hurt. The pain was so intense he couldn't even scream, a thin layer of crimson chakra coating his body.

Finally being unable to resist the pain, Naruto blacked out among the pipes running through the tunnels along the ceiling. Although he had no knowledge of it at the moment, Naruto's life would be changed forever by morning...

-=xXx=- Ten Years Later -=xXx=-

Snarling at the enemy, 16 year old Naruto- standing at 6'1"- bared his four sharp fang-like canine teeth and flexed his claws. His hair was twisted into a thick braid that went down to the middle of his back while his bangs hung freely in the front, his eyes slitted and metallic silver. His current attire was made up of a pair of black pants tucked into black knee-high steel-toe combat boots, a white sleeveless trench coat with a raised collar over a black longsleeve shirt, black metal gauntlets on his forearms and hands, black shoulder guards on his shoulders, a black face mask that was currently pulled down around his neck, and a Konoha hitai-ate tied around his head. Wrapped around his waist was a black belt with a black cloth hanging down to his ankles in the front, a katana in a white sheath strapped to the belt in the back.

"You'll pay for that..." Naruto snarled while pulling down his collar, spitting out a glob of blood and spit as he stepped between the two rogue Kiri shinobi in front of him and his fallen team mates behind him. Sasuke was unconscious, having been kicked in the head by a Water Clone. Sakura was unconscious as well, dozens of senbon riddling her body. Their sensei, Hatake Kakashi, was out of commision as well, the shorter of the two Kiri missing-nin having turned the jounin into a pin cushion, only more severly than Sakura. Luckily, Naruto had sent Tazuna, their client, away with a team of Shadow Clones to guard the man before the fight had begun. Naruto, who hadn't felt very threatened by them, had been kicked in the face by Zabuza in the very beginning.

"Oh? And what make's you think you can even touch me, _genin_?" Zabuza taunted as he shouldered his zanbatou, raising an eye brow in mock curiousity as Naruto drew his five foot long katana, which had a solid black blade with a white edge and a white handle, holding it in a reverse grip in his left hand. Naruto cleaned his mouth of blood and closed his eyes before pulling his mask up with his right hand. As he brought his hand back, Naruto threw a single pellet at the pair.

"What the-?" Zabuza started to growl out as he used his sword to deflect the small sphere, which fell to the ground a foot or two in front of him. His statement was finished with a startled curse as the pellet erupted in a flash of piercing white light, blinding both him and Haku. Less than a moment later, Zabuza felt the cold bite of a deadly sharp blade slicing through his right forearm, cleanly severing his sword arm.

"AAARGGH! YOU DAMN LITTLE BAS-!" Zabuza's cry of outrage and pain was quickly silenced as Naruto beheaded the man. In that same motion, Naruto had landed a roundhouse kick to Haku's chest, launching the girl back several meters and landing on her back roughly, sliding a short distance before coming to a stop just at the edge of the lake shore.

"Z-Za...Z-Zabuza...sama..." Haku weakly muttered as she pushed herself to her feet, eyes wide with fear behind her mask as she looked at Zabzua's headless body. She hadn't heard a sound when the white haired teen had attacked after the flash bomb went off. Having been trained by Zabuza-sama in the Silent Homocide style, Haku's hearing was incredibly fine tuned to the point she could evade her former mentor while in a thick blinding mist. For this genin to move without them even hearing him...

Haku looked up to see that the teen hadn't moved from his original spot where he had thrown the flash bomb pellet. Her eyes widened as she noticed a few drops of blood sliding down the blade and then drip from the tip of the sword onto the ground, his eyes still closed. She slowly started to shake slightly with fear. The boy had killed her sensei and-

_FLASH_

Haku cried out as a flash bomb went off right in front of her face, having been thrown from the side by a clone most likely. Flinching back and loosing her balance, Haku fell into the cold shallow waters of the lake, hitting her head on a rock and falling unconscious face first in the water. The last thing she remembered before blacking out entirely was a hand grabbing the back of her shirt and lifting her up...

-=xXx=-

Gently setting the girl down on the futon, Naruto stared at the young woman known as Haku, her hands bound with chakra suppressing cuffs and her feet bound with rope. Her head was bandaged lightly from when she hit her head earlier that day. He had used Shadow Clones to carry his injured team mates to Tazuna's home, those same clones using the extensive knowledge they had in medicine to tend to their injuries. As for Haku, she was going to be kept in a separate room secured with seals of Naruto's own design to keep the others out in case they tried anything stupid.

"Enemy or not, you're still defenseless and under my custody." Naruto spoke quietly so as not to wake up his prisoner. To be honest, Naruto found her to be quiet beautiful. She had to be only a year or two older than him. He had taken precautions to make sure she couldn't escape or in case she had a hidden weapon on her somewhere; in other words, Naruto had to strip search her. Unlike the arrogant bigots and lecherous bastards of Konoha, Naruto was respectful and kept his hands to himself when they weren't needed. When he was finished, he redressed her and bound her before completely sealing her inside the room.

"I'll hold onto this for now." Naruto muttered as he hooked Haku's mask- white with a red swirl design on it- onto his belt. He had been meaning to get him a similar one, but they were issued exclusively to hunter-nins back in Konoha. Maybe Haku had a spare? Dismissing those thoughts, Naruto left the room and sealed it shut with a number of blood seals and coded chakra seals. Once he was done, Naruto left the building and created a small army of clones to guard Tazuna and his family along with his out-of-commission team before disappearing into the forest.

When he had been poisoned ten years ago, Naruto's chakra circulatory system had nearly been destroyed. Most of the 'veins' were fractured or weakened, causing nearly half of his chakra to leak into his muscles, bones, and organs. This dropped the amount of chakra he could access at one time from borderline low-Kage down to about mid-chuunin, but in return, Naruto's chakra control shot up to near insane levels and allowed him to become a shinobi.

His natural physical speed and strength shot up high enough to put most jounin to shame. Poisons, toxins, venoms, diseases, and other things were useless against him as well. His bones had become so dense, Naruto doubted they could be broken, but they were lighter than they should be, which only bolstered his speed all the more.

His ninjutsu arsenal was rather small, but his genjutsu and fuinjutsu arsenal was massive. Using specially designed seals, Naruto was able to store large amounts of chakra- which allowed him to summon Shadow Clones at will- that he could use in conjunction with ninjutsu techniques to perform them or to turn them into powerful make-shift bombs when placed on paper.

"Hm?" Naruto paused in his brisk walk, sniffing the air as a familiar scent reached his nose. It was Haku's scent. "That's odd. It's faint, but layered...She's gone this way several times before..."

Glancing around, Naruto gained his bearings and pulled out a detailed map he had made the first day they were in Wave Country through Shadow Clones. After marking the map with a red pen where Team 7 had encountered Zabuza and Haku, Naruto thought back to when he mapped out Wave, marking places where his clones had spotted Gatou's thugs in black, blue where they spotted either Zabuza or Haku. After a few minutes, Naruto found a pattern and then marked where he was currently with a green pen.

The image of Wave Country was covered in a large black spider web-like image that stretched over all of Wave Country while Naruto was currently standing not far from about where he predicted Haku's and Zabuza's hideout to be. Stashing the map and pens in his trench coat, Naruto headed in the direction of where the hideout might be. It didn't take him long to find it; he simply had to follow Haku's scent.

Cautiously approaching the suspended 'tree-house', Naruto checked for traps before entering the building. Again, he carefully checked for traps with every step he took until he had cleared the entire building. Naruto then went about 'cleaning house', storing everything he found usefull inside of sealing scrolls. Having taken Zabuza's zanbatou as his own, Naruto grabbed the spare harness Zabuza had along with all of the man's equipment; kunai, shuriken, wire, exploding tags, and various other items.

He even found Zabuza's old ANBU armor and a blank mask identical to Haku's without any village symbol or design on it. Deciding to paint the mask later when he had time, Naruto hooked the blank mask to the opposite side of his belt than Haku's mask before continuing on. After nearly an hour of careful searching, Naruto left the building after marking it's exact location on his map. He might need it later on in case the Council tried to pull something again and get him banished or executed.

Hearing a twig snap nearby, Naruto froze before leaping into the branches of a nearby tree just as two swordsmen and a short man walk into the area. Recognizing the short man as Gatou from Tazuna's description of the man, Naruto tensed his wrist, causing a narrow two-inch wide and twelve-inch long ivory blade to snap out on the top of his forearm from the front of his gauntlet.

Waiting until they were directly under him, Naruto dropped a flash bomb pellet in front of Gatou and his guards, closing his eyes just as he set it off. He then jumped down and landed between them all before the light even started to fade, spinning on his heel and slitting their throats in an instant before jumping back up into the branches to avoid getting blood on his clothes just as the light faded away. It had all happened in the blink of an eye.

Dropping back down, Naruto went through their pockets for money or things he might be able to use. He smirked slightly, knowing his insane speed was getting better every time he moved. Having forced the Sandaime's hand into revealing his heritage back when he was six, Naruto knew his father was the Yellow Flash of Konoha. He had been given his inheritance that same day, which included everything his father had on the Hiraishin and the training the man had gone through to master it. This included special seals meant to increase ones physical speed to near lightning fast levels to prepare them for the instantaneous teleportation of the Hiraishin technique.

Naruto had been using those very same seals since he could recreate them perfectly, which had been roughly six months after he received his inheritance. When it came to speed, Naruto was virtually untouchable, but he didn't let it go to his head. His father had one philosophy that Naruto had taken up as his own. No matter how strong you are, there is always someone stronger. No matter how fast you are, there is always someone faster. No matter how smart you are, there is always someone smarter.

Naruto had stuck to that philosophy since he read it in his father's journal. Since then, Naruto had been training relentlessly. The purpose of the flash bomb whenever he used his personal assassination technique, Denryuu or Electric Current, was a sort of homeage to his father's Hiraishin. Plus it helped disorient his enemy long enough to either terminate or immobilize them as quickly and effeciently as possible. It was called Denryuu since Naruto normally used Raiton chakra to increase his reaction time so as not to run into any trees or walls while moving. Plus, Raiton chakra let him turn, but he could only go in straight lines, no curves. It worked best in forests since he could use the trees and their branches to ricochet off of for the best effect.

"Tch...Nothing." Naruto grumbled before disappearing instantly, heading straight for Gatou's mansion. Apart from a tall stone wall surrounding the building and guards spaced out widely across the area, there wasn't much of a challenge in terms of security. "Too easy..."

Just as he said, it really was too easy. The trees in the walled in area were close enough together that Naruto could reach the building unnoticed. Also, from what he could tell, most of the guards were outside. That saved him a load of trouble since he wanted to raid the mansion for everything he could carry, lure all of the guards into the building, then blow the whole place down with a few of his bombs. For now, he would wait until night fall before he struck.

Stepping back into the shadows, Naruto blurred out of sight, heading back to Tazuna's house...

-=xXx=-

Groaning quietly, Haku slowly woke up and found herself in a room she did not recognize. She groaned again as she squeezed her eyes shut, her head pounding. Haku discovered she was restrained when she tried to raise a hand to her head, both bound with cuffs. She also couldn't feel her chakra very well. It was still there, she knew that much, but she couldn't draw on any of it.

"Ah, you're awake. You've been unconscious for nearly four days."

Haku slowly turned to look at the door before her eyes went wide with panic, that same white haired person that killed Zabuza-sama was standing there as he closed the door and locked it with some kind of seal she didn't recognize. Noticing her fear, he removed his katana and set it down beside the door before kneeling beside her.

"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you." Naruto tried to reassure her, but Haku only inched away from him, frightened still. Naruto sighed at this, knowing it was going to be tough trying to calm her down. "I assure you I won't do anything to you. You may be my prisoner now, but I will not allow you to be harmed by anyone. Not even my team."

She seemed to calm down a little, but not by much. Pulling his mask down around his neck, Naruto took Haku's mask and set it in front of her, smiling softly at her. He felt awkward. His skills lied in battle and stealth, not socializing. Apart from team training and missions, Naruto rarely spoke to his team mates; he was naturally reclusive now due to his mistreatement by the people of Konoha.

"I figured you might want it back and I thought you might be hungry." Naruto calmly continued as he set a small container of dango beside the mask. Haku took her mask as she sat up, but gave him a skeptical look as she glanced at the dango. "Don't worry. It's not poisoned. It's not my style."

"S-Style?" Haku stuttered out, slowly and cautiously taking the dango.

"Yeah. If I'm going to kill someone, I would rather do it with a blade. Makes it quick and painless if done right." Naruto answered the question calmly, but he went quiet at the end. "It also helps me sleep at night knowing they passed on as painlessly as possible at my own hands than brutally at the hands of another."

Haku didn't say anything. She simply stared down at the dango in her hands, which were resting in her lap. She jumped slightly in surprise, startled when Naruto reached over and ran his thumb over a seal on her cuffs, unlocking them and causing them to fall from her slender wrists. When Haku looked up at her captor, she was surprised to him smiling still.

"It's hard to eat while wearing cuffs." Was all he said before silently pulling out a second small container of dango, eating the dumplings slowly as he placed the blank mask in his lap, pondering on what kind of design to paint on it. Haku, while hesitantly taking a bite out of a dumpling, watched as Naruto slowly traced an armored finger around the mask, almost as if he was painting something on it with slow precision. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Naruto spoke again, his eyes still locked on the mask.

"My name is Namikaze Naruto, just in case you were wondering. Your name is Haku, right? I heard Zabuza say it when he told you to take care of my team mates." Naruto asked and then stated.

"Y-Yeah..." Came her quiet reply. Naruto noticed the sadness in her voice. He sighed heavily as he looked back at Haku.

"Look...I'm sorry for killing Zabuza-san, Haku-san, but he would have killed me, my entire team, and our client. I couldn't let him do that." Naruto explained sincerely, but Haku seemed to get more upset at that.

"T-Then why didn't you k-kill me too?" Haku asked harshly, her voice shaky with emotion. "I-I'm just as much responsible for it as Zabuza-sama was!"

"Because you attacked with the intent to immobilize or knock out. Not to kill." Naruto calmly replied, not in the least bit phased by Haku's outburst. She went silent at that, slowly finishing her small meal. Having finished as well, Naruto took the empty container from Haku and stood up, the blank mask hooked to his belt again. "I'll be back later this evening to bring your dinner up and to redress your bandages afterwards."

Haku silently nodded in response as Naruto unlocked the door and opened it slightly. He paused for a moment. "You should also know that your employer is dead. I killed him as well." With that said, Naruto stepped out and slid the door shut, locking it once again. Haku sighed as she slumped back against the wall, head down and her hair veiling her face.

For the first time in nearly six or seven years, Haku began to cry. Only a few tear drops fell and she didn't make any noise, but she was still crying. After a few minutes, Haku regained control of her emotions before noticing the cuffs lying on the floor beside her. Silently, Haku picked them up and set them in her lap before untying her feet and setting the rope off to the side. With a sigh, Haku put the cuffs back on.

She didn't want to be one nor did she like being a prisoner, but Haku knew that she had no chance of escape at that moment. It was best to wait it out. Besides, where would she go if she did manage to escape? Zabuza-sama was dead and Naruto had obviously found the hideout she and Zabuza-sama had been using since that was the only place she kept her spare mask. She couldn't return to any of their past hideouts since they always destroyed them before they moved on and she didn't have any money. Zabuza-sama didn't have much either, which was why they had to take the job issued by Gatou to kill the bridge builder.

Sighing again, Haku lied down on the futon to try and catch an hour or two of rest. Her head was still pounding...

-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

-=xXx=-

Ivory Shadows

-=xXx=-

Chapter Two

"Thank you."

Naruto gave Haku a soft smile from behind his mask. He had just finished redressing Haku's bandages after she ate the food he brought up to her. It had been a week since they had talked and they had become good friends. Sort of. Neither of them got too attached to one another, but they became friends none the less. He had taken the cuffs back and let Haku go without any bindings as a sign of trust between them, but he didn't risk letting her leave the room without him at her side just in case his team tried anything. He wouldn't put it past Sakura or Sasuke to try something; Kakashi was an iffy one since Naruto knew only what was in the man's files.

Naruto's team was back on their feet, but not in any condition to fight. Luckily, they didn't have to. After he had finished rebandaging Haku's head and she had finished her dinner on the night they had first talked, Naruto had followed through with his plan and raided Gatou's mansion before blowing it sky high after leading the dead man's army of thugs into the building.

What he had told Haku that day about killing was true, but that didn't count for the sick scum formerly under Gatou's employ or any other disgusting vermin like them. They usually died slowly, painfully whenever Naruto got his hands on them.

"I'll see you later, Haku. Get some rest." Naruto suggested kindly as he picked up the tray with their dirty dishes and Haku's old bandages, leaving the room a moment later and heading down to the kitchen. There, Naruto sealed his gauntlets away and rolled his sleeves up before he began to wash the dishes he and Haku had used while his team quietly sat down at the table.

"Still screwing around with the wench, loser?" Sasuke growled, his ego still wounded from his defeat at Haku's hands. Closing his eyes, Naruto set down the last now-clean plate he had to wash and dried his hands before rolling his sleeves back down and unsealing his gauntlets. He kept his back to them as he secured his gauntlets on his forearms and hands.

"Yeah, you're still messing with that bitch, aren't you?" Sakura shrieked, following the example of her crush. Kakashi sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair, having learned his lesson long ago about pissing Naruto off. Sasuke and Sakura looked down at the floor when a small round object fell to the ground and rolled between Naruto and the table they were sitting at.

"What the- SHIT!" Sasuke muttered at first while leaning down to inspect the object, only to recognize the kanji for 'Light' on it just moments before the flash bomb went off, blinding both him and Sakura. Instantly, Naruto had his hands fisted in their hair before smashing their faces into the table, keeping them there as he leaned down to whisper in their ears.

"Do not...call her that...or intend harm on her...or I will break your fingers one by one every time you do. When I run out of fingers, I'll move to your toes, then your wrists, your ankles, your elbows, your knees, your shoulders..." Naruto's voice was cold and lethal, causing both Sakura and Sasuke to shiver in true fear. "If that doesn't stop you...I'll stop your hearts..."

Bashing their faces into the table again for good measure and releasing them, Naruto left the kitchen and started for the stairs, Kakashi right beside him. When they reached the second floor, Kakashi- after making sure the others were out of ear shot- placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Quite protective of her, aren't you, Naruto? You like her, don't you?" The jounin asked his most promising student teasingly with an eye smile. Naruto elbowed Kakashi in the ribs as he rolled his eyes.

"Shut it, Kakashi-nii-san." Naruto growled out as his surrogate older brother/uncle figure.

"Heh. Just telling it how I see it, Naruto." Kakashi replied as he ruffled Naruto's hair. About a year before they had died, Minato and Kushina- Naruto's father and mother respectively- had legally adopted Kakashi as their son, but Kakashi had kept his clan name of Hatake in respect of his late father. Kakashi had done what he could to get Naruto under his care, but the Council always stepped in and ruined his attempts at every turn. That didn't stop him from keeping his surrogate little brother safe, though.

"Whatever." Naruto huffed as he batted away Kakashi's hand and smoothed his hair out. He hated it when people messed with his hair. Kakashi eye smiled again, knowing the boy had feelings for the girl, but was denying such feelings. Like usual. He needed to figure out how to get the boy to open up to people.

"Take good care of her, Naruto. I know she may be a prisoner right now, but should you want to rectify that with Hokage-sama when we get back to Konoha, I'll help you out and vouch for her." Kakashi informed Naruto as he patted the boy's shoulder and went back down stairs to see if Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum were still conscious or not. Although he didn't look it, Naruto was really considering Kakashi's words.

As he continued to Haku's room and deactivated the seals long enough to quietly slip into the room, Naruto started thinking about his and Haku's 'relationship', if it could even be called that. Apart from being held captive by him, Haku was well mannered and cooperative, even thanking him whenever he brought up her meals or snacks every so often. While she just might be polite to him, Naruto could tell she truly was grateful.

They had also told each other about their respective lives, keeping the details generalized so as not to bring up bad memories for either of them. Maybe he was so protective of her because their lives were so similar...

_'She's asleep...'_ Naruto mused silently as he kneeled down beside her and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, brushing his fingers over her cheek gently. _'She looks so peaceful and beautiful...'_

Moaning quietly, Haku stirred slightly, but didn't wake up, gently leaning into Naruto's hand. Blushing faintly, Naruto slowly retracted his hand and sighed, calming down a few minutes later. He shouldn't lose control of himself so easily. He had spent four long years weaving his mask to suppress his pain, all in order to keep whatever sanity he still had intact. Had it not been for the people of Konoha, Naruto wouldn't require such a mask, but unfortunately, it was true.

Sighing quietly, Naruto removed his katana from his belt and sat in a corner, leaning his sword against him as he closed his eyes and slowly cleared his mind, meditating in order to reign in his emotions...

-=xXx=-

Time went by quicker than usual for Naruto and Haku. By the end of the second week in Wave Country, Tazuna had quickly finished the bridge that would connect Wave with Fire Country due to the lack of fear in the people after Gatou's 'mysterious' death and the explosion that destroyed the man's building and militia. Sasuke and Sakura, although still hostile with Naruto and Haku, had avoided the pair while Kakashi put in a little effort to restore peace amongst his team. He failed. Miserably.

"Piss off, Uchiha."

"Fuck you, dobe!"

"Yeah, loser!"

Haku sighed as she sat off to the other side of the fire that had been set up in the middle of the camp sight. Kakashi was sitting a few feet away while Sasuke and Sakura had stepped in front of Naruto across from her as he came back with some fire wood. After that, Sasuke started to pick a fight with Naruto, Sakura only fanning the flames, while Kakashi tried his best to ignore the problem by reading his Icha Icha. Haku couldn't blame him, really...

"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" Called out the Uchiha just moments before he expelled a large fireball in Haku's direction. Being only about six feet away and caught off guard, Haku found herself unable to move in time to avoid being killed. Kakashi couldn't move in time to save the girl either.

"Yakutoshi." Came the dark and hiss-like voice just as Sasuke's attack hit. Kakashi blanched as he heard an all too familiar phrase. He had heard it before and he had been praying to Kami and the Shinigami and to any other god/goddess that would listen that he never heard it again. Yakutoshi, which translated into 'escape from evil', was possibly the worst technique for anyone to go up against that Kakashi had any knowledge of. It was also ironic that Yakutoshi was the darkest and most evil technique in the world.

In the jounin's mind, at least...

Naruto always used it against him in their monthly spars whenever Kakashi used any technique at all on him. It felt weird whenever he got sucked into the Shadowy Ball of Doom, as he called it, whenever he used his Headhunter jutsu on the teen. It was creepy...

At the exact moment the words were uttered, the flames were _swallowed_ by darkness, forming a sphere in Naruto's extended right hand the size of a golf ball. The camp fire flickered faintly before returning to normal. Naruto then turned his eyes on Sasuke before aiming his right hand up toward the sky, suddenly unleashing the very same ball of fire Sasuke had launched at him from the palm of his hand.

"Kokoshibyou." Naruto hissed with narrowed eyes at Sasuke before unleashing the melon-sized ball of shadow at Sasuke, sending said Uchiha flying back into a tree. Back handing Sakura across the face before she could try to deafen him, Naruto slowly approached Sasuke as he tried to stand. Tried being the key word, seeing as Naruto kicked him in the ribs, sending him into the tree again.

"I warned you about that, Uchiha." Naruto growled coldly as he grabbed Sasuke's right hand and grabbed his pinky finger, breaking it instantly. Stomping on the Uchiha's face before he could scream, Naruto walked away from the unconscious teen and sat down beside Haku, calmly eating the cooked fish that was his dinner and acting as if the confrontation had never happened.

"Did you have to be so...brutal...about it, Naruto?" Kakashi inquired curiously, nkowing Naruto had held back quite a large amount of his power concerning the Kokoshibyou. It would normally tear apart whatever it touched on a cellular level and turn it into dust instantly; Naruto had never officially used it at that capacity since he called it a Forbidden technique. The only reason he made it that powerful was to have an ace up his sleeve incase he ever faced an opponent he couldn't beat through sheer speed and agility.

Highly unlikely, but Naruto was a very cautious person...

"You heard me warn them back in Wave." Naruto commented casually as he finished his fish, tossing the stick it had been skewered on into the fire. He then looked at Haku, was a little shook up by the near death experience. "Are you alright?"

"H-Huh? Uh, y-yeah. I'm fine." Haku replied hesitantly as she pulled her knees up to her chest. "Just a little startled."

"Alright." Naruto replied as he closed his eyes and started meditating.

-=xXx=-

A couple days later, Team 7 had returned to Konoha and reported their mission a success. Haku was placed under Naruto's care as a ward of the Namikaze clan, thus making her untouchable to the Councils. They had tried to get him arrested and/or executed for injuring the Uchiha, but after Kakashi vouched for Naruto about warning Sasuke and Sakura about insulting or attacking Haku, they had no grounds for charging him with anything. Naruto let out a quiet growl as he listened to the Councils banshee cries. He was just glad Haku wasn't present to hear what they were saying.

"She should be turned into breeding stock!"

"Yeah! We'll have a clan of ice-users in Konoha!"

"She needs to be wed to the Uchiha!"

Naruto's growl grew a little louder as his eyes locked onto the instigator of the idea; Haruno Hitomi, Sakura's mother. Closing his eyes as he tossed a flash bomb into the air, the clan heads and Sandaime closed their eyes just in time for the sphere to erupt in a bright light, blinding the civilians and some shinobi in the room. When it cleared, Naruto was standing over Hitomi's body, her head having rolled a few feet away on the floor. Blood dripped from the tip of his sword as he glared at the rest of the Council members involved in the arguement.

"Anyone else have something they want to say concerning Haku's future?" Naruto snarled, getting negative responses from the civilians as they shook their heads frantically. Snorting at their cowardice, Naruto dropped from the desk he had been standing on and started walking back to where he had been standing previously, flicking his sword to shed it of the blood and sheathing it.

"All in favor of marrying the girl to Uchiha Sasuke?" Danzo asked as he raised his hand. Before anyone could move, Naruto appeared behind Danzo instantly with his back to the man, his right hand grasping the handle of his sword. Releasing it, Naruto turned around and poked the man's hand, prompting it to fall from his wrist. It was severed cleanly and thanks to the fire chakra he had coursed through his sword, the wound was cauterized. His lightning chakra fried the man's nerves to keep him from feeling it and to keep the hand from ever being re-attached.

"You did not learn your lesson, I take it, Danzo?" Naruto asked coldly as he leaned down to whisper in the man's ear, resting one hand on the crippled man's shoulder. Danzo, eye wide in shock, found himself unable to move or speak. Removing his hand, Naruto revealed the seal he had placed on Danzo's shoulder, black markings slowly spreading across the councilman's body beneath his clothing.

No one knew not to anger Naruto and if they didn't, they knew not to now. Danzo, however, had pushed Naruto over the edge with his inquiry of a vote. Sarutobi signaled for the ANBU to remain at their posts as Naruto pulled Danzo back in his chair and sat on the desk infront of him, looking the man straight in the eye.

"Why didn't you speak up when I had asked if anyone had something to say about Haku's future? Hm?" Naruto asked in an all-too kind voice as he eye-smiled at the man. "No answer? Oh, too bad."

Naruto gained a frosty, dark look in his silver eyes as he narrowed them at Danzo, tensing his right wrist to make the wrist-blade in his gauntlet snap out. In twin flashes of light, Naruto sliced off the bandages around the man's left eye and right arm, revealing his stolen Sharingan eye and his mutated arm covered in even more Sharingan eyes.

"Hmph. And you called me an abomination." Naruto hissed as he pulled out a a scroll from within his trench coat, unsealing a small number of jars. Using a scalpel he had on hand, Naruto proceeded to remove each of the Sharingan eyes and place them in the jars, screwing them shut and sealing them away. When it came to the one in Danzo's head, Naruto switched the scalpel for the tip of his wrist blade, using surgical precision to neatly remove to eye and optic nerve without damaging them, sealing it away in a jar as well. Then, in a single swift motion, Naruto severed Danzo's right arm at the shoulder and destroyed it instantly with Kokoshibyou, turning the limb into dust.

"Fool." Naruto growled out as he walked away, pocketing the scroll of Sharingan eyes as he did. A councilmember opened his mouth to say something about the eyes, but Naruto shot him a quick glare, silencing the man instantly. Once he was standing back in his original place, Naruto addressed the Councils.

"Seeing as the Uchiha clan is no more, sans for one incompetant brat, I will be taking the Sharingan eyes I just salvaged from Danzo and secure them under the Namikaze clan. Any problems?" Naruto stated and then asked, getting silence in return. "Good. As for Haku, she has already been placed under my care as a ward and retainer of the Namikaze clan. Anyone that so much as _thinks_ of harming her or intending to use her as breeding stock, I will kill them. Painfully. Mercilessly. Any questions?"

"What gives you the right to just come in here and kill respected council members, demon? You have no rights, Kyuubi brat, and you never will!" Homura snapped angrily, unable to contain his outrage any longer. Naruto gave Hiruzen a side long glance, who nodded in return.

"You have broken the SS-rank law established by the Sandaime Hokage 15 years ago, which is punishable by death." Naruto coldly remarked as he slowly drew his katana. "Permission to execute the offender, Hokage-sama?"

"Granted." Hiruzen answered sharply as he motioned for a pair of ANBU to restrain Homura, which they did immediately, forcing the elderly man's head down for execution.

"You can't be serious, Hiruzen! After all I've done for this village!" Homura cried in desperation as Naruto drew closer to him. The Sandaime gave him a cold look while Naruto raised his blade. Crying out in fear, Homura was silenced in mid scream. No one moved, no one spoke, no one breathed. Naruto pulled out a black cloth and wiped his sword clean before slowly sheathing his katana and returning to his spot in front of the Councils for a third time.

"Meeting dismissed." Hiruzen declared and everyone cleared the room in an instant, not wanting to be around the one known as the Reaper any longer. Naruto snorted, finding their cowardice and arrogance pitiful.

"I really wish you would stop killing my council members, Naruto." Sarutobi informed the former-blonde with a heavy sigh. Naruto scoffed.

"And I wish I still had my parents to stand by my side." Naruto retorted as he pulled up the back of his trench coat's collar to form a hood over his head. The elderly Hokage sighed and nodded at that. He wished the same as well. "I have business to attend to, Old Man. If you don't have anything else to speak with me about, I must go and make sure Haku knows the responsibilities entilted to being a retainer of the Namikaze clan."

"Alright, Naruto. I'll see you later." Hiruzen parted as he stood up from his chair. Naruto nodded slightly in departure as he vanished from his place. Reappearing in the streets, Naruto entered a specific store and walked up to the counter. A lanky elderly man wearing a light grey tank top and baggy black pants, smiled warmly at Naruto, his body covered in patches of black soot and coal dust.

"Good morning, Namikaze-sama. I suppose you're hear for your new equipment." The man stated cheerfully as he disappeared behind the counter for a moment before reapearing with a polished red oak box that was nearly four feet long, a foot wide, and a foot tall. On top of it was a one foot wide and tall box of identical red oak. Each one had a special seal on it that only Tensei and Naruto could open. Naruto eye smiled at the man and nodded in thanks.

"Thank you, Tensei-sama." Naruto replied as he browsed through the various weapons smithed in the back of the store by Tensei himself. Picking out a pair of masterfully crafted two-foot long kunai attached to thirty-foot long light weight chains with hooked kama attached to the other ends, Naruto set them on the counter along with a moderate number of kunai, senbon, shuriken, ten boxes of flash bombs, each one containing a hundred of the small pellets, and some supplies for his personal seals. "I'll be taking these as well."

"Alright then." The old man as he rang up the prices for the items Naruto chose. Naruto handed the man the needed money before sealing away his merchandise.

"I'll see you later, Tensei-sama. Tell Tenten-san I said hello for me, please. Have a good day." Naruto thanked the man one last time before leaving. His swordsman skills had been taught to him by Tensei, who was once capable of standing toe-to-toe with any samurai or swordsmen in the Elemental Countries, but that was in the past. Time caught up with him and he retired twenty years ago before starting up his business as a black smith and merchant of various weapons with his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and his grand-daughter.

Blurring into sight in his backyard, Naruto went to a large flat rock in the center of a pond and sat down before unsealing the two red oak boxes from Tensei's store. Opening the smaller box, Naruto pulled out the two halves of his new mask; it was a black head-piece with two black horns sticking out in the front. Removing his hitai-ate and cloth face mask, Naruto put the two metal pieces on and found them to be just like everything else he had commisioned from Tensei. Perfect. Taking his hitai-ate and attaching the metal plate to the side of his belt, Naruto set the smaller box aside before opening the larger of the two.

Inside were two new pieces for his gauntlets, a pair of ninjato swords with a special harness for them, and twenty new bombs of Naruto's own design. They were slightly curved on the top and bottom with special magnets on the base and sides of the three block-like protursions around the circular center piece, completely black, and metal. Picking two up, Naruto placed them together along the protrusions and smirked as they connected easily. They were expensive, but they were well worth it.

Putting the two bombs back in the box, Naruto put the black leather harness on and slid both of his ninjato swords into the slots so they were running parallel with his spine down his back, the white foot long handles sticking out over his shoulders while their ivory sheaths blended in perfectly with his trench coat. Taking the two new pieces for his gauntlets, Naruto attached them to the specific slots on the top of them and smirked once more. They were grapels to repelling up or down walls without the use of chakra. Channeling his chakra into the connector seals, the grapels vanished into his gauntlets in puffs of smoke.

After sealing away his new explosives, Naruto went into his home and found himself a tad surprised to see Haku dusting off some of the furniture while listening to a small radio in her pocket with ear buds placed in her ears. Smiling slightly at that fact she was already growing accustomed to living in his home as a retainer in less than six hours, Naruto walked up the stairs to the third floor before heading to the master bedroom, his room. Once there, he removed his armor and weapons, hanging them up on the wall before doing the same with his trench coat, leaving his boots on the floor under them.

Sighing softly as he entered the master bathroom attached to the room, Naruto disrobed and entered the shower. He seriously needed to relax and a nice hot shower sounded perfect to him...

He never heard nor noticed the door to his room opening moments later...

-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-=xXx=-


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

-=xXx=-

Ivory Shadows

-=xXx=-

Chapter Three

Six months passed by and Naruto found himself in the Academy again, a place he never wished to return to, with his team for the first part of the Chuunin Exams. Naruto gave Sasuke a dark look when the boy opened his mouth and blurted out to everyone in the hallway that the room the other genin were standing in front of was the wrong one, disguised with a genjutsu.

"Fool. That was to weed out the hopeless and now you just added more fodder to the playing field." Naruto hissed at the shorter teen before pushing his way through the crowd, trying not to take the boy's head off in his anger. When they reached the stairs, Naruto secretly put up another genjutsu to keep out the fodder. Upon nearing the correct room, Team 7 was stopped by Team Gai.

"Naruto-kun! I challenge you to a spar!" Lee declared energetically with a beaming grin. Naruto eye-smiled and waved at Tenten, purposefully ignoring Lee just to get a rise out of the older boy.

"Hello, Tenten-san. It is good to see you again." Naruto greeted the aspiring weapon mistress, who smiled in return.

"Hi, Naruto-kun. It's good to see you too and to know my grandfather's work is in capable hands." Tenten replied as she pointed to Naruto's swords and armor, mask included. Her mother was actually the person to make Naruto's trench coat, boots, and pants while her father had made Naruto's belt and straps for his katana and the holster for his ninjato swords.

"Thank you." Naruto answered with a polite bow of his head, eye smiling again. Tenten fought back the blush that threatened to appear on her cheeks and embarrass her. "If you are not busy, I was wondering if we could go to dinner some time after the Chuunin Exams and discuss my next possible commission from your family."

"O-Oh, um..." Tenten couldn't stop the blush upon hearing and registering his words, smiling shyly. "S-Sure. That's sounds great."

"Damn you and your hip attitude!" Lee cried with passion as he pointed at Naruto dramatically. Looking over his shoulder quizzically, Naruto cocked an eyebrow.

"Hm? Did you say something?" The ivory haired teen asked, taking a page from Kakashi's book.

"Gah!" Lee cried as he pouted in a corner, tracing his finger on the floor. Naruto laughed lightly at the boy's reaction before turning back to the other two members of Team Gai.

"Hmph. Peasant." Neji muttered under his breath as he started walking away to stand off to the side until his team decided to continue to the examination room for the Chuunin Exams. Unfortunately for him, Naruto heard him and held the blade of a ninjato in the Hyuuga's path.

"You want to say that again, White Eyes?" Naruto growled threateningly, slowly letting his killing intent leak out, gradually increasing it with every second.

"I said you're a peasant." Neji sneered as he glared at the white haired swordsman, internally growing more fearful of Naruto's presence. He had heard of the teen's skills and techniques along with his kill count; 592 in the past six months since Team 7 was formed. Naruto narrowed his eyes at Neji dangerously, his slit pupils narrowing into thin black lines that were barely visible in his silver irises.

"I'll show you a peasant." Naruto snarled as he flickered out of sight a split second before a knee was driven into Neji's back from behind as an arm wrapped around his neck in a headlock. Before Neji was able to cry out in pain, Naruto was already slamming his fist into Neji's right side with his free hand before kicking the Hyuuga in the back of his right knee, flickering in front of the teen as he feel to his knee. Kneeing Neji in the chin as said genin's knee touched the wooden floor, Naruto grabbed his ankle as the Hyuuga was launched into the air and pulled him back, grabbing him by the throat and pinning him to the floor with the tip of his right wrist blade touching his neck, drawing a single drop of blood.

"The only peasant I see is an angry coward of a brat that knows nothing of pain, nothing of fear." Naruto hissed into Neji's ear as tightened his grip of Neji's throat a little bit. "You, Neji, need to get rid of your fucking attitude and toss that Fate shit out the fucking window. I've been beaten, poisoned, burned, stabbed, tied up in barbed wire, and nearly bled to death from my neck getting cut open...and that was before I turned six years old. I was orphaned on the very night of my birth an hour after I was born when the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konoha sixteen years ago."

"N-Naruto..." Tenten softly spoke his name, already knowing of Naruto's past, but she didn't want him to kill her team mate. Standing up, Naruto sheathed his wrist blade before catching his ninjato, having tossed it into the air before he attacked Neji, and sheathed it as well.

"Like I said, Neji. You know nothing of pain, fear, despair, or loss until you've lived a day in my place." Naruto flat out told the Hyuuga as he turned away to return to his team, but looked over his shoulder before he left. "Did you know your father _sacrificed_ himself to save your uncle? Did you know his death prevented a war with Kumo that would have ended the lives of many shinobi before the end of that very week if he hadn't? Your father died to save Hiashi out of love for his brother. I'm only going to warn you once; take it out on anyone else and I'll teach you the real meaning of pain, fear, despair, and loss."

With that, he left Team Gai and stormed past his own team for the double doors leading into the examination room. Kakashi, who had been standing at the doors, remained silent as he gave Naruto a slight nod, having heard his student's words and seen the confrontation with the Hyuuga Branch member. Gai, who had also seen and heard everything, had a stoic look on his face as he looked at Neji from the doors with disappointment in his eyes.

Kicking the doors open, Naruto felt the _trickle_ of killing intent brush against him before flaring his own, causing everyone in the room to avert their eyes instantly and avoid looking in his direction by any means necessary. Sasuke and Sakura, however, believed it was because of them and not Naruto. Naruto rolled his eyes at their blind eyes and arrogance. Putting a pair of black ear buds on, Naruto turned on his personal radio and listened to the music playing over the air waves.

-=xXx=-

A little over an hour later, Team 7 had just entered the Forest of Death for the second portion of the Chuunin Exams, having obviously passed the first portion- espionage. Having forced his team mates to relinquish their Earth scroll, Naruto kept the scroll sealed away in a special storage seal he had painted on his belt that blended in perfectly with the black leather, hiding it from sight. At the moment, Naruto was on the verge of leveling the sector of the forest he was in and turn the trees to fine dust in his fury. He had been picked up and thrown away from his team mates by a rather strong wind technique, B-rank at the least from the force of the wind itself and the slight scratches his armor had taken.

Glaring maliciously at the handful of giant snakes staring at him, Naruto struck his fists together that caused a slight shockwave from the impact while six flash bombs shot out into the air from the small openings on his shoulder guards. Closing his eyes as he set them off, Naruto drew his ninjato and disappeared in an instant. By the time the light faded away, Naruto was standing back in his original place, swords sheathed.

Vanishing once again as he headed straight for his team, the five massive snakes were suddenly replaced with thick clouds of crimson mist. Within that same second, Naruto had traversed the few hundred meters between him and his team, flipping backwards as he kicked Orochimaru in the chin and sent the Snake Sennin flying back. Glancing at Sasuke, Naruto scowled seeing the Cursed Mark forming on the Uchiha's neck as Sakura held him.

"Ah, if it isn't Naruto-kun." Orochimaru hissed out in an amused tone of voice, his Tsuchi Bunshin having been destroyed by Naruto's kick. Slowly drawing Kusanagi from his body, Orochimaru held the sword at the ready while Naruto's froze and hardened as he drew all three of his own swords. Grasping his katana in his left hand in a reverse grip, he held both ninjato in his right hand with the two blades facing opposite ways, their handles connected at the pommel.

"You won't leave this forest alive, White Snake." Naruto growled as his pupils grew thinner before suddenly splitting in the middle and forming two thin slits, one above and one below a pin-point circular pupil in the very center of his eyes.

'_The experiments have been fruitful. Good.'_ Naruto thought to himself as he saw everything moving at a slower rate than normal while becoming clearer and sharper. He could also 'see' everything behind him from the enhanced combination of all of his senses telling him everything all at once, giving him a near-100% accurate 360 degree view all around him.

Only down side was that he couldn't use his personal speed technique, Slipstream or Koryu; by pushing the air in front of him behind him, a vacuum pocket is formed and propels him forward into the empty space. Through constant use, he's able to achieve speeds rivaling that of the Hiraishin. When coupled with his Denryuu style, he was nearly unbeatable in reflexes and pure speed, save for maybe the Yondaime Raikage himself.

"Oh? And what makes you say that?" The Sennin asked, his amused tone barely masking his anger. He didn't take to death threats by 'weaklings' very well. That is, until a blade tore through his left ankle, severing the tendon on the back of his foot and ankle. Taking a knee as he hissed in pain, Orochimaru glared at Naruto, who hadn't even moved. Looking behind him, his pupils dilated greatly until they were barely visible.

"You see, if you hadn't noticed my eyes, I'm unable to move as fast as I can while they're active. However, I've come up with a way to overcome such a handicap." Naruto explained as he slowly drew his two ninjato, as did the few dozen Kage Bunshin he had created on the way here. "Feel free to fight back, Orochimaru. It won't do you much good."

"…Kukuku…You didn't think I came unprepared, did you, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru chuckled darkly just moments before a pair of insanely long blades shot from either side of his clones and cut them all down with a scissor maneuver. The blades then retracted before two of Orochimaru's own Kage Bunshin stepped out from their hiding places.

"Che…" Naruto scowled deeply as he connected his two ninjato swords at the pommel to form a double-bladed sword while drawing his katana with his left hand, holding it in a reverse grip like he always did. As he slowly slipped into his stance, a clone of his appeared next to Sasuke and Sakura, quickly taking them away from the area to keep them from getting in the way.

"Let's see what you can do, White Fox." Orochimaru hissed quietly in dark entertainment before he and his two clones charged Naruto from three separate directions, Kusanagi blades held at the ready. Orochimaru grew curious when Naruto closed his eyes and relaxed his stance when they attacked, but thought nothing of it.

Until he disappeared just as their swords barely made contact with his clothing…

Appearing on a tree branch above them, Naruto opened his eyes again, his swords missing from his open hands as he aimed them at his opponents. His eyes had returned to normal since he no longer held the advantage with them, black shadowy orbs having formed in his hands.

"Kokoshibyou." He whispered before unleashing them. The real Orochimaru managed to evade in time, but his clones were both struck in the chest, their bodies disappearing in bursts of smoke that was suddenly swallowed by the shadows the orbs radiated.

"Hmph. Lucky shot. They were only one tenth of my skill and power, though." Orochimaru taunted, believing that little fact would dishearten the white haired shinobi in front of him, but it didn't. He simply locked his frosted silver eyes on him before holding his hands out to the side and catching his swords, vanishing within that same millisecond.

Orochimaru looked around frantically, searching for the teen. Never before had he seen anyone move so fast in his life. He had seen the Yondaime using the Hiraishin, but that was through the use of a, simply put, reverse summoning technique. Not raw speed like the boy before him was using.

Then it hit him like one of Tsunade's punches; the boy was well known to have insanely high skills in _Gen_jutsu as well as Taijutsu and speed. However, he didn't know what kind of genjutsu the boy was using, meaning he had no way to truly break it. If it was cast over the area, a strong burst of chakra would be required to dispel it. If it was on the Sennin himself, he wouldn't be able to break it without alerting the security forces around the Forest of Death to his presence.

_Click…_

Orochimaru's eyes widened suddenly between the split second break down of Naruto's source of speed and his disappearance. Looking over his shoulder, Naruto was standing with his back barely touching the Snake Sennin's own back, having just sheathed his katana, his ninjato already having been sheathed during his attack.

"Like I said…" Naruto's voice was cold and dark, denoting nothing, as he slowly took a few steps away from Orochimaru before circling around in front of him. "You won't leave this forest alive, White Snake."

Orochimaru didn't even have time to register what had happened to him when his body suddenly collapsed into a pile of bloody hunks of flesh, bone, and gore. Having left the man's left arm untouched, Naruto removed the Snake Summoning Contract and sealed it away on his belt before aiming his left hand at the remains of Konoha's most hated traitor.

"Kokoshibyou." He whispered before atomizing every piece of dead flesh that had once been Orochimaru's body, leaving a smooth bowl-like crater in its place from the devastating attack. Turning on his heel, Naruto took a few steps before falling to his knees, gasping for breath as sweat poured down his face and neck from behind his mask.

Tearing his mask off, Naruto sucked in oxygen as best he could. The only problem with using Koryu was that lack of oxygen in the vacuum space and strain it places on the body the faster the user goes. That was way Naruto normally made the initial strike as lethal and swift as powerful to avoid being drawn into a long fight with a powerful opponent.

Combined with the depletion of his chakra from his eyes changing and the constant use of Denryuu since he was tossed by Orochimaru's Futon jutsu, Naruto was on the verge of passing out where he was. Reaching into his trench coat with a shaky hand, Naruto pulled out a piece of paper with a seal on it before placing it against his chest, absorbing the chakra stored within it.

Instantly, he felt better, but knew it wouldn't last very long. Quickly getting back to his feet, Naruto removed his katana- sheathed- from his belt and used it as a walking stick, intending to locate his team before recovering his chakra through meditation and maintaining watch of the Uchiha and Haruno. Despite how much he would rather slit their throats in their sleep…

-=xXx=-

Slowly opening his eyes as he finished his recovery by sunrise, Naruto stood up and reattached his katana to the straps hanging from his belt, pulling the hood of his trench coat over his head as he tensed his arms and shoulders before stretching, popping his joints into their sockets properly from his shoulders to his knuckles.

"That's better." Naruto mused softly as he looked back at his 'team mates'. Scowling slightly before forming a Kage Bunshin thanks to his seals, Naruto took off into the forest, not wanting to be around them anymore than he had to.

Now that he was thinking about it, Naruto realized he had very little, if not nothing at all, in Konoha. He had no real friends, save for maybe Tenten and her family, but he was primarily a customer of theirs. He had no love interests, not that anyone would be interested in being with him since he's the Kyuubi jinchuuriki despite being the son of the Yondaime. No one really respected him and if they did, it was because of his father's reputation, not his own power and skill.

Naruto slowly came to a stop in the middle of a small clearing and looked up at the sky through the canopy of leaves and branches above him. A small tear of anger and sorrow slipped from his eye as he narrowed them and clenched his fists.

That was when a team of Kiri genin landed in front of him, each one bearing some form of sword on their person. Naruto didn't look at them, keeping his eyes on the sky. He could smell the high-quality metals in their blades, the blood that stained their hands. One, a girl, didn't have the same scent as her two male comrades; it was as if she didn't want to fight, as if she was _forced_ into confronting _him_.

Glancing at them for a moment, Naruto closed his eyes and kept them closed before crossing his arms over his chest. He decided to play it defensive for once, choosing not to use his swords either.

"K-Kenji…We shouldn't do this…" The girl whispered to her larger team mate, who had a zanbatou in his hands. He had shaggy brown hair, black eyes, tanned skin, heavily muscled for a 16 year old that stood at 6'3", and wearing nothing more than a pair of black and blue camouflage pants, black combat boots, and black fingerless gloves while a leather harness for his sword was strapped to his back.

"Shut up, Suiren!" The other male hissed at the girl, drawing his katana. He had silver-blue hair, green eyes, and dressed in black pants, a black turtleneck top, and ANBU-style armor. He was lanky and thin, obvious favoring speed over physical might.

As for the girl, Suiren, she had black hair that went down to her waist, deep blue eyes, light colored skin, and a slender, but full-bodied figure for a 16-17 year old young woman. She was about 5'6" and wearing a dark blue long-sleeve top that left her right arm and shoulder bare while showing the top of her E-cup breasts, a pair of black biker shorts, a black and dark blue camouflage sash wrapped around her waist with one end hanging in front of her down to her knees, black sandals, and blue gloves on her hands. Her sword, however, had caught his attention the most. It was curved with the cutting edge on the interior of the curve instead of the exterior, similar to a sickle sword, but it was one most effective when held in a reverse-grip.

"Hand over your scroll or we'll kill you!" Kenji growled out threateningly. They knew who this person was. The White Phantom, the White Fox, the Ghost of Death, the Reaper. There were many other names that people referred to him by back in Water Country. Only a genin and he had killed the feared Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Bloody Mist, with little to no effort put into it. Slayer of almost six hundred men since he became a genin.

They figured if they killed him, they'd be famous…

"…What of the civil war your lands have been plagued by?" Naruto asked out of the blue, eyes still closed. This confused them, but Suiren answered him.

"It's over. The Godaime Mizukage killed the Yondaime Mizukage and has been breathing life back into Kiri since." The girl chimed in with a hint of joy in her voice. Naruto took notice of the slight increase in aggressive pheromones from her two team mates upon the lone female's response.

"And the Bloodline purge? Is it over?" Naruto inquired, yet again the two males had another spike in aggressive pheromones as their female team mate responded.

"Yes. It's slow going, but the bloodline clans are coming back to Kiri and helping rebuild our village." Suiren replied with a small, sad smile on her face as she looked down at the ground. "Mizukage-sama is also trying to reform the Seven Swordsmen, but there are so few Kiri shinobi that are capable of taking such a title."

"Enough talking! Either hand over your scroll or you're dead, milky!" The katana-using genin snarled. Naruto cracked an eye open and cocked an eyebrow up slightly.

"'Milky'? That's the best you could come up with?" Naruto asked incredulously in a bored tone before closing his eye again. Kenji smacked the boy on the back of the head for his stupidity.

"You're such an idiot, Ryuuzaki." Kenji grumbled. "Just leave the trash talk to those that can."

"You listen to the beef stick, twiggy." Naruto teased with a slight smirk. "He seems to be the smarter one between you two despite having a brain the size of a pea."

"Why you- DIE!" Kenji bellowed as he charged Naruto with his zanbatou raised to bi-sect the masked swordsman. Sighing softly, Naruto raised his right arm leisurely and blocked the large blade with his armored wrist, his eyes still closed. Cracking an eye open, Naruto stared at the brute with a single frosted silver half-lidded eye that shone with power and cold fury.

"I don't know which to feel insulted by; the fact you think you can honestly kill me? Or the fact you think like that when you can't even get through my guard when I have no blade in hand?" Naruto's voice was cold and menacing sending a shiver up everyone's spine. Before Kenji could react, Naruto had twisted his arm and grabbed the large blade, crushing it in his grip before hitting the Kiri-nin in the chest with a palm thrust, sending him flying back into a tree.

The teenager was lucky that Naruto had held back or else Kenji's ribcage wouldn't be solid anymore…

"Kenji!" Ryuuzaki cried before charging Naruto. "You bastard!"

"He's still alive, dumb ass." Naruto grumbled as he took a step back, watching as the genin stumbled by. "Just go check. Idiots these days…"

"Not until you're dead!" Ryuuzaki snapped as he charged Naruto again, who didn't move this time. When Ryuuzaki's katana blade was mere centimeters from slicing open his neck, Naruto bent backwards at the knees, easily dodging the strike. Standing straight again, Naruto scratched the back of his head, not even turning around as Ryuuzaki tripped on a rock and smashed his face into the dirt, falling unconscious.

"So what are you doing after the Second Exam, Suiren-san?" Naruto asked kindly with an eye-smile, acting as if a little man in his head had just flipped a switch. Suiren blushed as she gave him a hesitant look, unsure if he was serious or just trying to coax her into dropping her guard.

"N-Nothing since you took out my team mates." Suiren responded with a slight stutter. Naruto scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Ah, right. Well, then would you like to go out for dinner some time after we get out of this forest?" Naruto asked curiously, making Suiren's blush turn a darker shade of red.

"S-Sure…" The dark haired girl replied nervously. Naruto bowed slightly, still eye smiling as he stood up straight again.

"Thank you. I am Namikaze Naruto, by the way." Naruto introduced as he handed Suiren a slip of paper with his address written on it. "You can find me at that location at almost any time, so don't be shy about dropping in."

"O-Ok. I'll keep that in mind." She replied before Naruto gave a small wave, vanishing instantly the next moment. Falling on her ass, Suiren let out a sigh of relief. "Ooh…I thought I was gonna faint…"

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First of all, I HATE YOU MOTHER FUCKING FLAMERS! ESPECIALLY YOU RETARDED ONES! All you say is 'this story sucks' or 'this story is unbelievable and stupid' and then don't even leave your real account name to take a verbal bitch-out like a pansy! If you don't like the damn story, then don't even fucking review or read the damn thing! Simple fucking choice, numb-nuts!

…Anyways…

Ok, so a little heads-up on the pairing. I've already decided on a Naru/Haku pairing and maybe one or two others. No, that doesn't necessarily mean Mei or my OC Suiren is going to be one of them. The connection between Naruto and Mei will be revealed later on and Suiren is simply someone Naruto wants to get to know since she knew what he could do, respected what he could do, and knew not to fuck with him. Keep in mind that Naruto has trust issues, so even someone like the Sandaime or Kakashi- his surrogate grandfather and brother/uncle respectively- are considered possible threats in his mind. It's the whole reason why he keeps pushing himself to become faster and stronger, just incase he has to kill his own kage or someone of similar power in order to protect himself.

Plus, he wants to come out from his father's shadow and surpass him in speed, but not through something like the Hiraishin seal rites or anything. He wants to do it his own way, hence why he created Denryuu(Electric Current) and Koryu(Slipstream). Naruto wouldn't be able to use Hiraishin anyways since it requires high-jounin level chakra reserves just to use once, but he only has mid/high-chuunin reserves and will never be able to obtain reserves any higher than mid-jounin due to the poison destroying his chakra circulatory system.

If you got any other questions, lemme know in a review and please give me some constructive criticism. I know I'm not the best writer and I'm not going to bullshit you by saying that I am, so let me know if you see a mistake in my story, be it a typo to a missing word or two in a line. Anything.

Thank you,

Phantomwraith


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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Ivory Shadows

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Chapter Four

Naruto's head bobbed up and down slightly as he listened to the music coming from the buds in his ears, eyes closed as he leaned back against the wall behind his team mates with his arms crossed over his chest. The current song reminded him of the first night Haku spent in his home after Team 7 returned to Konoha from Wave Country. A small smile formed on his lips behind his mask as the image of an exhausted and satisfied Haku lying on his bed passed through his mind.

The girl had walked in on him while he was showering, the music from her headphones having kept her from hearing his shower running; Haku hadn't even realized he was home at the time. She had been on a cleaning spree that day and had just got to the second floor, starting with his room. He had found her reaction to him walking out of the bathroom in nothing, but a towel wrapped around his waist to be quite amusing as well as...adorable. Oddly enough, he couldn't remember much of that night after he got out of the shower; well, apart from the physical aspects. One thing led to another, something was said by one of them, and they ended up making love that night.

A small chuckle escaped him as he remembered how Haku couldn't look at him without blushing a deep crimson for the next week following that night before they repeated the event at the end of that week. They had grown closer over the past six months and made love frequently out of simple carnal hunger and sincere affection for one another.

Kakashi glanced at him, but didn't say anything. He recognized that kind of laugh and smirked slightly because of it.

"Namikaze Naruto vs. Rock Lee!" Naruto cracked an eye open hearing his name over the music before slowly walking down to the arena floor, his radio still playing. Before he got off the stairs, Naruto removed his swords and set them up against the guard rail while locking his wrist blades in place inside his gauntlets so he didn't use them.

"Let's see if you've gotten any better than our last spar, Lee." Naruto told the taijutsu-user as he got into position. Lee gave him a beaming grin and a thumbs-up.

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun! I've gotten much faster than last time!" The boisterous green beast proclaimed.

Naruto yawned slightly out of boredom...

"Hm? Did you say something?" Naruto asked as he plucked one of the ear buds from his ear, giving Lee a curious look. As the green-clad genin started ranting about his 'hip' attitude, Kakashi and Gai shared a look of amusement before laughing lightly, both thinking back to when they were younger and acted like that. In fact, they still did on occasion.

"Ready? Hajime!" Hayate proclaimed before getting out of the way as Lee appeared in front of Naruto in an instant.

"Konoha Sen-" Lee was cut off in mid-cry as Naruto caught the teen's foot before it even passed his chest, aimed straight for his chin.

"Not good enough, Lee." Naruto stated calmly as he wrapped his arm around Lee's leg and leaned back, tossing Lee behind him as he flipped and landed on his feet lightly. Correcting himself in mid-air, Lee's feet hit the wall and he used it as a spring board to come rocketing back at Naruto from behind with a flying roundhouse kick. Spinning around rapidly and kicking Lee's foot away, Naruto's other foot left the ground and made contact with Lee's ribs, sending him tumbling across the room and skidding to a halt before he hit the wall.

"Really, Lee? You said you were faster." Naruto said in slight disappointment, but he knew the reason why Lee seemed slower than their last all-out taijutsu spar. Lee cast a glance at Gai, who nodded slightly at him with a small grin. Grinning in return, Lee jumped up on top of the statue at the back of the arena before crouching down and pulling off his weights.

"Ah, that explains why." Naruto commented to himself idly with a slight smirk, which turned into a full-blown manic grin when Lee dropped the weights. The sheer weight of them shook the floor beneath their feet as twin plumes of dust and smoke rose up to Lee's position. Disappearing in an instant, Lee was upon Naruto with a heel drop. Catching Lee's ankle and flipping him back, Naruto charged forward before Lee could touch the ground and slammed his fist into his sparring partner's stomach, slamming him down into the floor and shattering several adjacent stone tiles around them.

Naruto's grin became a confused frown when the dust cleared to show Lee holding himself up by his arms while his legs wrapped around Naruto's neck, feet locked behind Naruto's head. With a simple flip, Lee transitioned from a hand stand to standing on his feet, launching Naruto behind him in the process. Pushing off of the ground as he sailed through the air to correct himself, Naruto pushed off of the wall he nearly hit head first and launched himself back at Lee. Sweeping in low, Naruto hooked his arm under Lee's knees and knocked the boy into the air. Flipping back before Lee could correct himself, Naruto kicked his opponent in the stomach and bounced off him, landing lightly on his feet yet again.

"Come on, you can do better than that, Lee!" Naruto called out jovially as Lee jumped to his feet. Tenten, who had never seen the two spar before, was watching them with shock. Despite Neji always beating Lee in their usual spars, Lee had never fought him with his weights off and they didn't just weigh down his legs. They had special seals on them that made the whole body feel the weight equally all over. She had known Naruto was fast, but to see him dealing with Lee's speed without his weights as if Lee were moving at a snail's pace was truly mind-blowing.

Everyone else in the auditorium was watching them with shock, surprised by the sheer physical speed the pair were moving at as they ricocheted off the walls and even the ceiling and floor, batting one another around like pin balls. Neither was slowing down, but in fact, they were only picking up speed as they continued to run along the walls to keep their momentum in order to increase the power behind their attacks. Even Gai was kind of surprised by them, having never witnessed one of their spars before either.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Naruto hollered as he bounced off the ceiling and dropped down on Lee with a heel drop the genin was forced to jump out of the way of, the blow causing almost every tile in the room to sustain _at least_ a single crack running through it as Naruto landed in the center of the arena. Lee dropped to a knee as he landed, panting heavily as Naruto just bounced from one foot to the next, hands held up to eye level as he waited for Lee to attack.

"You...win this...one...Naruto-kun..." Lee panted out as he slowly stood up, slouching as his arms hung limply at his sides; they were deadened from blocking a couple of Naruto's attacks. Taking a moment to calm himself down as the proctor declared him the winner, Naruto walked up to Lee and shook the teen's hand.

"You did good, Lee. You actually managed to make me release one of my gravity seals." Naruto praised the teen as a clone brought him Lee's weights, which he then passed back to Lee. "Keep boosting your training. It's doing terrific for you."

"Th...Thanks, Naruto-kun." Lee thanked him tiredly as he went back up to his team and plopped down on the ground, choosing to sit and watch the rest of the matches instead of standing. His legs were weak from the exhaustive match. Naruto collected his swords and, instead of returning to stand next to his team, went to stand next to the Kiri team he had 'met' in the forest. None of them had noticed it during their one-sided fight, but Naruto had slipped the scroll they needed into Kenji's pocket for them to pass.

"Good afternoon, Namikaze-sama." Kenji greeted politely as the three of them bowed. Their sensei, an auburn haired woman with green eyes wearing a sapphire blue combat dress and fishnets, raised an eye brow at their actions, but then she took a good look at Naruto and her eyes widened slightly in surprise. He was the semi-legendary genin that had infected the minds of everyone in Kiri and Water Country with fear after killing Momochi Zabuza.

"Good afternoon to you as well, Kenji, Ryuuzaki." Naruto greeted before locking eyes with Suiren and taking her hand gently in his own, pulling his mask down to kiss her hand. "Suiren."

"H-Hi." Suiren stuttered out in slight embarrassment as she blushed deeply by Naruto's greeting and the way he said her name.

"So this is the boy Suiren wouldn't stop talking about last night." The woman commented as Naruto looked at her, putting his mask back on.

"Oh, really? I am Namikaze Naruto and you?" He inquired curiously.

"Terumi Mei." Mei introduced herself with a soft smile. She never noticed the slight widening of Naruto's eyes before he eye-smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Naruto responded as he repeated the process with Mei that he had done with Suiren, slipping a piece of paper into her hand as he did. Secretly pocketing the slip after Naruto released her hand, Mei gave him a quizzical look.

"How is it that you can move so fast without chakra or a technique?"

"Weight and Gravity seals. My father was the Yondaime Hokage, Namizake Minato, but I guess you would recognize him more easily by his other title before he died. The Yellow Flash." Naruto explained, bringing a look of surprise to Mei's and her students' faces along with those within ear shot; namely, the Suna genin squad and the Oto genin squad. "He used the same seals before he finished the Hiraishin technique in preparation for it, but I've been wearing them for nearly a decade and barely ever remove them unless I need to. That's how I can move so fast without chakra, but what you saw was me without _one_ of them active when I have twenty-one present on my body at all times."

"Wow. That's quite impressive. I'm sure your father would be proud of you if he were still alive." Mei praised as she gave him a comforting smile. Naruto, although a tad upset about bringing his father's death up, eye smiled in return.

"Thank you. I seek to surpass him in speed without the Hiraishin." Naruto responded. Mei noticed a hint of sadness in his voice along with a faint trace of anger. She figured it to be from being stuck in his father's shadow all these years and wants people to recognize him for him, not for his father. As they were talking, Shino beat Zaku by draining him of his chakra, Dosu bested Chouji by knocking him out with the sound waves from his gauntlet, and Shikamaru knocked Kin out through strategy, like he did with everything else.

Neji, fortunately, took it easy on Hinata as opposed to his original idea of beating the self-conscious girl into nothingness. He purposefully let her win, knowing full well that she would possibly be branded with the Caged Bird seal due to her defeat at his hands, a Branch House member. Naruto noticed his hesitance and how he was holding back, letting Hinata beat him in the end. He'll look into it later…

The group went silent when Suiren was called down to the arena to fight Tenten. When the match started, Tenten instantly hurled kunai at the black haired swordswoman, but Suiren drew her unique sword and weaved through the flying daggers while dragging the tip of her sword along the ground.

"Mizu Kamikiri!" Suiren cried as she swung her sword up, a blade of water darting along the ground and barely missing Tenten, but it caught one of her scrolls and sliced it in half. Tenten watched with shock as the scroll was destroyed; it was one of the scrolls needed for her Twin Rising Dragons technique. Suiren saw a number of various throwing weapons flying at her and swiftly went through a few one-handed seals, having taught herself relentlessly to master the few techniques she knew.

"Suiton: Teppodama!" The Mist kunoichi called out as she fired off nearly two dozen water bullets at Tenten, deflecting many of the flying metal blades while hitting her opponent with three; one in the chest, one hitting her left knee, and the third hitting her right shoulder. Falling to the ground and sliding a short distance, Tenten struggled to get back to her feet before pulling out a pair of bladed tonfa.

"My sword, Kuroi Ran, isn't just a regular sword." Suiren idly commented as she swung her sword slowly from over her left shoulder to her right side, after images of the blade following its movements. When she brought it back up to her shoulder, the sword had a second blade identical to the original coming from the base of the sword's pommel. She then removed it and held two identical swords in her hands, flipping them into reverse grips with the cutting edges aimed outward.

"That's new…" Naruto mumbled to himself as he eyed Suiren's swords. Kenji smirked.

"Keep watching. She's just getting started." The burly teen commented. True to his words, Suiren was just getting started.

"So what if you can duplicate your sword? That won't help…you…" Tenten trailed off in the end as she watched Suiren suddenly split apart into numerous images before said images started flicking in and out of sight all around her, the original Suiren among them.

"So she's managed to fuse genjutsu with Kenjutsu. Interesting." Naruto mumbled quietly as he watched Suiren blitz Tenten numerous times and barely nick the aspiring weapon mistress with her blades.

"It's more than that, but how did you figure it out so easily?" Ryuuzaki inquired since only their team and sensei knew the abilities of Suiren's Kuroi Ran.

"It's because I do the same thing on occasion, only differently. I plunge myself into a false reality whenever I'm going all out and it slows everything down to a crawl for me, letting me move at extreme speeds without any problems while it feels like I'm moving normally so long as I'm under the genjutsu." Naruto explained, keeping the details hidden just in case they became enemies later on. "It also acts as an instant escape whenever I'm caught in a trap I normally wouldn't be able to get out of. Quite difficult to dispel, even for me, I might add."

"Senjukannon." Suiren finally stated calmly as she came to a stop in front of Tenten, who was littered with dozens of small cuts and scratches all over her body. Sheathing Kuoi Ran, Suiren bowed at the waist. When she stood up straight again, small blood spurts shot from Tenten's minor injuries before she fell to the floor, unconscious.

"That's Suiren's strongest technique, the Senjukannon. The Thousand-armed Goddess of Mercy isn't just about confusing the opponent with multiple images of yourself moving at high speeds. It also involves hitting clusters of nerves responsible for registering pain with small cuts, numbing them long enough to inflict enough pain on the enemy to render them unconscious or to paralyze them by severing major tendons and damaging important muscles needed to move." Mei explained to the white haired teen in front of her. "Suiren also uses various poisons and venoms on her swords to make it even more effective, but she chose not to for the preliminaries. Out of her graduating class, Suiren is the best genin swordswoman in Kiri. She has the potential to one day become one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist so long as she continues to grow at the same rate she does now."

"Hn." Naruto grunted out with a slight grin, internally developing new sword techniques in his mind as Suiren returned to the group with a victorious grin on her face.

"Congrats, Suiren." Ryuuzaki commented with a smirk. Kenji gave her a slap on the back of her shoulder. Naruto remained silent as he stared off into the distance before pulling out a note pad and pencil, writing down notes and small drawings for reference. As he did, he backed up against the wall and used his chakra to move up the wall so no one could see what he was writing down.

"Futokai Ryuuzaki vs Inuzuka Kiba! Ready? Hajime!" Hayate called out as Ryuuzaki instantly started going through hand seals.

"Doton: Doryuheki!" Walls of earth from the ground and sealed off the doors leading into the arena before going through another string of hand seals. "Suiton: Baku Suishouha!" Ryuuzaki cried out before releasing a large amount of water that flooded the room until the water was nearly five feet deep.

"Gah!" Kiba gasped out as he broke through the surface of the water with Akamaru on his head. Slowly dragging himself onto the surface with chakra, Kiba set Akamaru down, who used his own chakra to maintain balance on the water. "You suck, asshole!"

"Heh. I'm not done yet." Ryuuzaki commented with a malicious grin as he went through more seals. "Mizu Bunshin no jutsu."

Instantly, a dozen water clones of Ryuuzaki rose from the water, mimicking his stance. Kiba narrowed his eyes and growled quietly to himself as he tensed. While he did, Naruto dropped down to the balcony and stood between Kenji and Suiren at the railing.

"Jujin Bunshin!" Kiba called out as Akamaru jumped on his back before transforming into a second Kiba. After forming another hand seal and crouching down to all fours, Kiba gained sharper claws than normal and longer canine teeth. "Shikyaku no Jutsu!"

"Pathetic." All twelve of Ryuuzaki's clones chimed, unimpressed. Going through more hand seals, Ryuuzaki watched as Kiba and Akamaru charged him. "Kirigakure no Jutsu."

Just as Kiba came within reach of hitting Ryuuzaki, the place was engulfed in a thick mist from the balcony down, hiding everything. Kiba, having missed his target, tried to track him down with his sense of smell, but it failed.

"Damn it! There's too much water in the air." Kiba growled quietly to himself. Hearing a dark chuckle all around him, Kiba started spinning around in place as he and Akamaru remained back to back.

"You have a point there. Let me fix that!" Ryuuzaki laughed out as he went through more hand seals. "Hyouton: Sensatsu Suishou!"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock upon hearing the name, the mist fading away as the needles were formed in the air around Kiba. A Water Clone grabbed Kiba's ankles from below him so he couldn't escape as the needles descended upon the doomed Inuzuka.

'_That's __one of Haku's techniques!'_ Naruto exclaimed in his mind, knowing it was a technique unique to Haku's blood line.

"Gatsuuga!" Kiba called out as he nailed the clone's hands with a pair of kunai and started spinning along with Akamaru, both going beneath the water to avoid the needles before bursting out and rising to the ceiling. Clinging to the ceiling with chakra, Kiba slung a handful of kunai at Ryuuzaki and his clones, destroying the water manifestations, but the real Ryuuzaki simply caught the blade in mid-air.

"Quick thinking, but this isn't over." Ryuuzaki commented, still smirking. Having predicted Kiba's escape, Ryuuzaki had planned ahead.

"Suiton: Teppodama!" Called out one of Ryuuzaki's Water Clones from behind Kiba, pegging the dog-like teen in the back and sending him back to the water below. Landing on his feet with Akamaru landing beside him, Kiba grew cautious. He was hesitant. Then it started getting colder in the arena as Ryuuzaki went through more hand seals.

"Hyouton: Mugen Makyou Hyousho!" Ryuuzaki declared as dozens of ice mirrors formed all over the arena. A ring formed around Kiba while a second ring formed around the center ring a few yards away, multiple others forming near the walls and ceiling along with a few floating on top of the still waters like tiles.

"What the hell? I thought Haku was the last one." Naruto hissed under his breath, surprised by the discovery of another with a Hyouton bloodline.

"Oh yeah? Ryuuzaki here was part of a large, but scattered clan of Hyouton users. When the Bloodline Purges started, only a few families survived." Kenji explained after over hearing Naruto. "I wouldn't be surprised by the fact at least one survived."

"…" Haku suddenly appeared beside Kenji while standing on the railing and stared with wide eyes as she watched Ryuuzaki dart between his mirrors, chasing Kiba and Akamaru around as the pair tried to avoid getting sliced to ribbons by the Kiri genin's sword. "He's…He's like me…"

"Wha-Whoa!" Kenji exclaimed in surprise, having not noticed her arriving and fell over on his ass. At the same time, Kiba was knocked out by Ryuuzaki with a kick to the back of his head. Releasing his ice mirrors and tossing an open scroll into the water, Ryuuzaki waited for the scroll to absorb and seal the water away until the arena was bone dry, releasing the earth barriers on the doors as well.

"Winner: Futokai Ryuuzaki!" Hayate declared before coughing as the lanky genin returned to his team, dropping to the floor and sitting with his legs crossed as he heaved a heavy sigh of relief. Haku then took the moment to whisper something in Naruto's ear.

"Geez…I thought I was gonna pass out from chakra exhaustion using so many techniques…" Ryuuzaki grumbled to himself before he found a piece of paper held out to him with a seal on it.

"Use it on yourself. It'll replenish your chakra." Naruto commented with an oddly blank look in his eyes. Nodding to Naruto in thanks, Ryuuzaki put it on his chest and felt better as his chakra started to return to him at a quick rate. Haku then walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"My name's Haku." She replied, but Ryuuzaki gave her a dark look upon seeing her mask. Noticing it, she removed it and put it away. "Sorry."

"Hn. I'm Futokai Ryuuzaki." The teen finally introduced himself after several minutes, watching as Shino fought Zaku.

"Do you have a bloodline?" Haku inquired as she called forth a bit of water to her hands and formed a smooth ball of ice. "I have one."

"Yeah. It doesn't really have a name, but we can create ice easily and even draw water from the ground and air around us with ease." Ryuuzaki explained as he mimicked Haku, but created a highly detailed rose bud in full blood made of ice, handing it to Haku. "There's only me, my mother, and you apparently that's left of us. There are others, but they can't make ice like we can."

"Ah." The two remained silent from then on as Naruto looked at them with a small smile. He could only hope Haku's feelings for him didn't change…He had become greatly attached to her in the past six months.

"Subaku no Temari vs Wariguri Kenji! Ready? Hajime!"

"You might as well forfeit the match, kunoichi." Kenji commented as he drew his zanbatou. Temari took it as an insult and launched a gust of wind at Kenji, but it did little more than a normal breeze to him. Closing his eyes and sighing softly, Kenji held his blade to the side.

"Time to break the rules." Kenji mumbled under his breath as he brought his sword in front of him. "Defeat thy enemies, Kosotsu!"

Instantly, the stone around him turned to fine dust before gathering on his body, solidifying and turning into iron armor with a broad shield on his left arm, his sword having changed as well into a double-edged broad sword with a V-shaped guard at the base of the blade.

Bringing his shield up to cover most of his body, Kenji let his blade rest on the slight indentation at the top of the shield, charging Temari at insanely fast speeds for someone of his stature and the weight from his armor. Flipping over Kenji and lashing out with Kamaitachi, Temari's eyes widened in shock after seeing nothing happen to her opponent.

"I'm going out on a limb here and say that Kenji has a possessed sword." Naruto guessed, getting a nod from Mei as she motioned for him to continue, evaluating his deductive skills. "Seeing as he transformed using the stone around him, he has an Earth affinity along with the spirit in his sword having an Earth and Metal affinity. Thus, with the aid of the spirit, Kenji formed the armor on his body and altered the sword in his hand."

"Correct, but-" Mei tried to point something else out, but Naruto cut her off.

"He's not from Water Country originally. His Earth affinity is too high. I'd say he's from Earth Country, the sword's spirit as well." Naruto commented, getting surprised looks from Kenji's team mates and sensei. "I know because he defended himself from Temari's Wind technique without even trying by making his skin as tough as diamond through raw Earth chakra coating his body. Only someone born from two shinobi with high Earth elemental affinities could do that so effortlessly with some training. Kiri isn't known for its shinobi to have high Earth affinities, meaning his parents were from Iwa originally. I'm not going to guess as to how he came to being in Kiri because I'll probably get it wrong and insult someone without meaning to."

"Wha…How…" Mei tried to get the question out, but she couldn't. Naruto eye smiled and tapped where his nose was behind his mask.

"His scent. People born in Water Country naturally smell of misty forests, ice, and water. People of Earth Country smell like clay, rock, minerals, and red oak. Kenji was most definitely born from someone from Earth Country." Naruto explained before watching the match again. "Don't worry, though. His scent is layered too heavily with that of people from Water to suggest he's a spy. Also, from the crest on the sword's hilt, it's a family heirloom, meaning it was passed down to him and that the sword is old, having been forged and possessed many years ago."

'_Wow. He's not__ only powerful, but highly intelligent as well.'_ Mei noted as she looked at Naruto for a moment before watching her student simply walk towards Temari as she continued to hurl one Futon jutsu after another at him. _'I just might have to try and recruit him __to Kiri after the Exams.'_

"Alright, damn it! You win!" Temari barked at him in anger after hitting him on the head with her fan. Which broke in half upon hitting his helmeted head without so much as fazing the teen. Laughing softly with a warm smile, Kenji's armor and shield returned to dust and fell from his body as he sheathed his sword.

"You may have lost, but you are skilled." Kenji praised as he held his hand out, shaking Temari's hand gently. "Keep growing stronger and I might decide to have a rematch with you one day."

The two then returned to their teams, but Naruto noticed something. There was an uneven number of genin present. His concerns were confirmed moments later.

"Namikaze Naruto vs Subaku no Gaara!" Hayate called out. Both contestants appeared in their proper places instantly through their own ways; speed for Naruto, Suna Shunshin for Gaara. "Ready? Hajime!"

"Mother wants your blood." Gaara growled out, only to go wide-eyed when Naruto vanished and blurred past him, sheathing his sword.

"I'm sorry, my brother, but you can not be allowed to continue. Go in peace." Naruto whispered as his sword clicked faintly from the hilt touching the sheath. A thin line formed on Gaara's neck and waist while a wet spot formed over his heart. It was blood. Instantly, Gaara's body fell to the floor in three pieces, his head and waist severed from the rest of his body while his heart had been pierced.

"Winner: Namikaze Naruto!" Hayate declared, but it was obvious Naruto found no joy in his victory as he crouched down next to Gaara's head and gently closed the red head's teal eyes. Standing up and returning to his place with the team from Kiri, Naruto remained silent as he reached up and pulled down a hidden metal plate under the top half of his mask, bridging the gap between the two halves of his mask and hiding the rest of his face. He then pulled his hood up over his head and turned up the music coming from his radio, blocking out everything around him.

'_For Konoha…'_ Naruto thought solemnly to himself. He had given Gaara a swift death to ease his passing, but not because Gaara was the Ichibi jinchuuriki. Naruto wanted nothing more than for his fellow containers to escape from the torment of their oppressors and creators and to live a normal life, but Gaara was a key part of the invasion Oto and Suna were planning to execute on Konoha.

Without their key player, Suna will no doubt back out of the invasion and without an ally to help them, Oto will either abort the invasion or die trying. Like he thought to himself, it was for the good of Konoha…

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